Flyers focused on South Central

NORWALK — Throw the records out. An often-used figure of speech will be easy to apply this week for St. Paul football head coach Chris Doughty. The Flyers (4-4, 4-1) are up to No. 11 in Division VII Region 25 this week, and are one win away from playing for a share of the Firelands Conference championship in the regular season finale at Monroeville. But to get there, St. Paul will need to win at South Central (1-7, 1-4) this Friday in Greenwich. Last week, the Trojans did something only the state-ranked Eagles (8-0, 5-0) have done this season. South Central held a 15-12 lead at Western Reserve (6-2, 4-1) in the third quarter before the Roughriders took control in the 41-15 win. By the same token, when the Flyers played at Western, they were trailing 21-0 early in the third quarter of a 28-7 loss on Sept. 27. "South Central absolutely has our attention, and we talked to the kids about it," Doughty said. "Obviously Western is a very good team and South Central may have the record they have, but they just showed everyone they are capable of playing very competitive football. "It's going to again be a matter of us taking another step forward this week to get one step closer to attaining our goal. But we're not where we need to be yet, and we need a good strong week to continue to improve." Doughty and the Flyers also know where it starts for the Flyers. Senior quarterback Aaron Hauler is 53-of-113 passing for 493 yards with four touchdowns. On the ground, he has totaled 467 yards and 8 TDs on 122 attempts. In last week's loss at Western, Hauler ran 21 times for 111 yards and a TD and was 11-of-22 passing for 64 yards. He also ran in a 2-point conversion and kicked an extra point.. "Hauler is a special player and it doesn't matter who South Central is playing that week, he will be one of the top performers on the field," Doughty said. "He's someone we know is a good, strong athlete and is tough to bring down. "It's going to come down to our lines on both sides of the ball. But our pursuit also needs to be very strong on defense to try and keep him contained." Also for South Central, Cole Frankart has 21 catches for 193 yards and 2 TDs, and Trey Knoll has 10 catches for 11 yards. Greyson Fisher adds 14 catches for 74 yards. On defense, Hauler adds 51 tackles, two sacks, and has forced one fumble and recovered another. For St. Paul, Landon Fries has 419 yards and 8 TDs on 105 attempts and has caught 25 passes for 378 yards and 4 TDs. Quarterback Grant Kuhnle is 42-of-100 passing for 521 yards with 4 TDs. Rafael Gross leads the defense with 82 tackles (15 for loss) with two sacks, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. Nate Sandor has 49 tackles with a sack, an interception returned for a touchdown and a fumble recovery, while Tristan Nickoli adds 48 tackles (10 for loss) and three sacks. St. Paul is coming off a 16-15 win over Crestview in a game that saw 18 points scored in the final seven minutes — including two touchdowns in the final 80 seconds. The Cougars (3-5, 3-2) scored on a 50-yard TD pass with 1:11 left to take a 15-9 lead. But the Flyers moved 72 yards in 38 seconds, with Kuhnle finding Fries for a 17-yard TD pass with 26 seconds left. "We don't watch the game with the kids until Monday, so we did that and obviously there were enjoyable moments," Doughty said. "But there were also a lot of teachable moments as well. "We did get to enjoy it one more time, but there were still things to point out that need to be corrected moving forward."